Chapter 1- Psychology as a Science

8/7/2019 Chapter 1- Psychology as a Science

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CHAPTER 1PSYCHOLOGY AS A SCIENCE

I. INTRODUCTION

It was in the year 1590 Rudolf Goekle first used the wordPsychology

Psychology as we know it is the study of human and animalbehavior .

As such it attempts to use rational means to understand theactions of people and lower animals.

Psychology was previously considered as a branch of philosophybut in the year 1879 when Wilhelm Wundt established thefirst psychology laboratory in the University of Lepzig inGermany , it was then considered a science.

Now what precisely does psychology study? It studies humanand animal behavior.

It studies behaviors as it is the only thing which can bemeasured.

Many people who have not studied Psychology seem to thinkthat psychology is the study of the mind or the soul. But it sohappens that both the mind and the soul cannot be measured.

Hence we can say that psychology is a science as it goesthrough systematic organized steps such as observation,classification, generalization and verification.

All sciences have to follow the above mentioned steps.Hence since behaviors are the measuring rod of psychology, to

measure it, the four main steps of observation, classification,generalization and verification have to be undertaken.

Hence psychology in this way is introduced as a science.Now psychology is a science that studies human and animal

behavior.

It has occupied an important place as a behavioral science.Its principles have been used at various aspects of human life

and it has made our life more prosperous and stable.The scope of modern psychology has been developed to such a

great extent and hence its various branches have also beendeveloped.


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II ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT

As we discussed previously the origin of psychology is deeprooted in philosophy.

The term psychology is derived from two Greek words namelyPsyche - mind/soulLogos-study

Psychology was termed as a science went the first psychologylaboratory was set up by Wilhelm Wundt in 1879 at theUniversity of Lepzig in Germany.

It was in the year 1590 that Rudolf Goekle first used the wordPsychology.

III MEANING AND DEFINITIONS

Psychology has occupied an important place as a behavioralscience. It studies human and animal behavior.

In modern times the principles of psychology are applied tovarious fields of life such as industrial, health, sports, defense,social, environmental aspects etc.

The knowledge of Psychology has made our life prosperous andhappier.

Psychology gained the status of a science in 1879 whenWilhelm Wundt established the first psychologicallaboratory at the University of Lepzig in Germany.

i. UNSATISFACTORY DEFINITIONS

Some of the unsatisfactory definitions that were offered inthe earlier times were:a) Psychology is the study of the mindb) Psychology is the study of the soulc) Psychology is the study of the consciousness

a) Psychology is the study of the mind.


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Ancient Greek philosophers defined psychology as thestudy of the mind but this definition was highly unsatisfactory dueto the following reasons.1. They were unable to explain the concept of the mind as well asthe structure of the mind

2. The concept of the mind was not clear as the mind is abstract.3. It was concerned with the mind both internally and externally.Modern psychologists do not agree with the concept of the

mind.Hence due to the above given factors, the definition of

psychology as the study of the mind was rejected.

b) Psychology as the study of the soul. The Greek philosopher Aristotle defined psychology as

the study of the soulBut this definition proved unsatisfactory as well due to the

reasons given below.1. The soul is abstract and hence cannot be precisely defined andhence no one could precisely prove what the soul was about.2. The structure of the soul was not clear and hence neither wasthe concept clear.3. Modern psychologists did not accept the concept of the soul.

c) Psychology is the study of the consciousness

William James in his book A brief Course inPsychology says:

This definition of psychology may best be given as the descriptionand explanation as the state of consciousness

These Greek philosophers could not precisely define themeaning of the conscious and unconscious aspects and hence thisdefinition was also rejected.

James Sully in his book Outlines of Psychology says:

I abide by the old conception that psychology is distinctly marked off from the physical or natural signs as having to do with thephenomenon of mind and the inner world and employing its ownmatter or an instrument chord for introspection

Wilhelm Wundt defined Psychology as


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Psychology to investigate that which we call internal experiencewhich forms the subject matter of natural sciences

ii) INCOMPLETE DEFINITIONS.

a) Psychology is the science of human behaviorb) Psychology is the science of experience and behavior.c) Watson founder of the school of behaviorism defined

psychology asThe science of the behavior of human beings and animals.

He popularized the definition of psychology.He said it is possible to write psychology as a science of behavior.But this definition too was incomplete.

iii) MODERN DEFINITIONS.

a) According to Edwin Boring Psychology is the study of human nature

b) According to R.S Woodworth Psychology is the scientificstudy of the activities of an individual in relation to hisenvironment

c) According to N.L Munn Psychology today concerns itself with the sense of investigations of behavior much of what the earlier psychologists dealt with as experience

d) According to William MacDougall Psychology may best and most comprehensively defined as a positive scienceof the conduct of living beings


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IV NATURE OF PSYCHOLOGY OR

PSYCHOLOGY AS A BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE

As we know behavior is the subject matter of psychology.Behavior according to CT Morgan can be defined as:

Any activity of human beings or animals with reference to thesituation is called behavior

Now behavior is taken as subject matter because it can beobserved, recorded, classified, generalized and finally verified or

evaluated.It is because of these reasons that behavior is the subject matter

of psychology.Behavior is connected between the stimulus and response.Cognitive behavior cannot be measured. It can be observed over

a period of time e.g. : An individual can be observed through a oneway glass by a psychologist.

i) BRANCHES OF PSYCHOLOGY

a) Natural Science: - Biology, physics, chemistry, etc are allnatural sciences. The experiments are carried out in animalbehavior are the same as the experiments carried out in biology?They are all applied facts.b) Behavioral Sciences: - Sociology, cultural anthropology,philosophy, economics etc are behavioral sciences. They mostlystudy the behavior of human beings in a social environment as wellas the individuals behavior in relation to his environment


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Thus psychology is both a natural science as well as asocial science . It studies the behavior as it occurs

Man is basically a social animal and lives in a society

in which two main behaviors are observed namely:a) Internal:- thoughts, feelings, emotions etcb) External: - Portrayal of these thoughts, feelings and emotions

through behavior depends on the type of thought etc negative orpositive.

In short psychology can be considered as abehavioral science as :

a) Behavior of all age groups are taken in to consideration andmeasured. E.g.: children, adolescents, adults, old people etcb) The behavior of humans and animals is taken intoconsideration and observed. Psychology studies their behavior tofind out cause and effect.c) The behavior of both normal and abnormal people is takeninto consideration and observed . E.g.: ABNORMAL: mentallyretarded, physically challenged, traumatized etc.d) It is related to both natural as well as social sciences.

V FIELDS AND SUB-FIELDS OF PSYCHOLOGY

i) FIELDS According to CT Morgan there are 11 branches of Psychology.

BRANCHES % OF MEMEBERS IN APA

1. Clinical 29%

2. Experimental 10%

3. Counseling 10%4. Educational 10%

5. Industrial 7%

6. School 9%


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7. Social 3%

8. Developmental 3%

9. Personality 2%

10. Psychometric 2%11. Engineering 2%

12. Other Fields 11%

ii) SUB-FIELDS

Psychology is dived in two class es namely TheoreticalPsychology and Applied Psychology.

Psychology is hence both a theoretical and applied science.Theoretical : It deals with the formulation and creation of different

theories.Applied : It helps us solve many practical problems like the

problems of our parents and our children and of professors andstudents. With the help of many techniques, such problems areresolved due to the implications of these techniques on theindividuals involved.

THEORETICAL APPLIED

1. Animal Psychology 1. Clinical Psychology

2. Abnormal Psychology 2. Counseling Psychology

3. Child Psychology 3. Industrial Psychology

4. DevelopmentalPsychology

4. Legal Psychology


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5. ExperimentalPsychology

5. Engineering Psychology

6. Physiological Psychology 6. EducationalPsychology

7. Social Psychology

Bold : Described further in detail below.APA: American Psychological Association

According to CT Morgan the psychologists engaged in different activitiesare:

ACTIVITIES % OF PEOPLE

1. Teaching 23%

2. Clinical Practice 15%

3. Administration 19%

4. Basic Research 7%

5. Psychometry 10%

6. Counseling 6%

7. Applied Research 5%


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8. Industrial Counseling 2%

9. Clinical Research 2%

10. Miscellaneous 10%

iii) DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A FEW SUB- FIELDS.

a) Clinical Psychology

It is one of the largest branches in the field of psychology29% of the APA were clinical psychologists in 1970These specialists come closest to the lay persons idea of apsychologist.They are doctors who diagnose emotional disorders and treatthem by means of psychotherapy.This field is mostly concerned with the abnormalities and variousother disorders which have high levels of severity.It also uses many different methods to deal with such severeabnormalities or disorders.Clinical psychologist is an applied aspect of abnormal psychologywhich is a theoretical aspect.It deals with the diagnosis and treatment if abnormal behavior andthe individual who deals with it are known as a psychologist.

The difference between a clinical psychologist and apsychiatrist is given below.

N N OTE: A psychologist is not medically qualified. He is psychologically qualified toimplement psychological techniques and severe problems. The nature of the problemdiffers from that of a counseling psychologist. A clinical psychologist differs frompsychiatrist and a psychoanalyst


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CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST PSYCHIATRIST1. The degrees required are M.A,PhD, Diploma in ClinicalPsychology

1. The degrees required are MBBSand M.D

2. They work in hospitals,

psychiatric wards, mental healthcenters etc.

2. They also work in hospitals,

private clinics, psychiatric wards,mental health centers etc3. They are more involved inresearch and employ the methodsof psychotherapy which help themfind out the causes of theinstability as well as the treatmentrequired. They cannot prescribedrugs.

3. They give the patient treatmentwith the help of medicines, drugs,electric shock therapy etc. Theynormally use medicines to makehelp their patient.

4. They deal with considerablyless severe problems. Egg:

4. They deal with severe mentalproblems like schizophrenia etc

The difference between a clinicalpsychologist and a psychoanalyst is givenbelow.

CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST PSYCHOANALYSTThe degrees required are M.A,PhD, and Diploma in ClinicalPsychology.They work in hospitals, psychiatricwards, mental health centers etc.They are more involved inresearch and employ the methodsof psychotherapy which help themfind out the causes of theinstability as well as the treatmentrequired. They cannot prescribedrugs.They deal with considerably lesssevere problems. Egg:

A psychoanalyst is a person whoemploys the methods of Freud.Freud was an M.D and his ideaswere first taken up by the medicalprofession. For that reason mostpractioners who call themselvespsychoanalysts hold the M.D.They normally use two maintechniques namely:

1. DreamInterpretation- Dreams are aportrayal of our unconsciousthoughts which lie low in ourconsciousness but come outwhen we are asleep in theform of dreams.2. Free Association- Astimulus word is given to thepatient to whom he has toassociate a few words of hisown which come to himinstantly.


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Psychoanalysts are mainlyconcerned with unusualresponses(R) which are individualresponses (I) concerning thesemethods. They delve deep into

the unconscious and try to solvethe problem by analyzingunconscious activity.

b) Counseling

Definition: Psychologists who work withmilder emotional and personal problemsare known as counseling psychologist.E.g.: Relationships, behavioral problems,problems related to adjustment, learning etc.It is a close cousin of clinical psychology.Its main aim is to solve emotional and socialproblems of the people.It is also related to vocational counseling.The main aim of a counselor is to help peoplesolve their minor problems.Counseling psychology is a source between mildand major problems.Counselors normally function at places like

educational institutes (schools, colleges,university etc), Vocational Fields (where abilitiesare measured, interests, aptitude, attitude etcare also measure), Business or industry,Rehabilitation centers etc.The areas to which counselors attend to areadjustment, emotion, learning behavior and acouple of other areas.


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c) Educational or School Psychology Counseling psychologists who test and guide individual students aregenerally called educational or school psychologists.By using some combination of tests and interviews, they try to find

out what the trouble is when a student seems to be having adifficulty in school.After studying a case, the school psychologist may recommend thata student with reading difficulties be assigned to a remedial class.On the other hand, a student with mild adjustm ent problems maybe counseled by the school psychologist in a way that amounts topsychotherapy.More important school psychologists employ a wide range of skillsrelevant to the school environment.They tend to function more as consultants to teachers andadministration than as one-to one clinicians with students.Educational psychology may include school psychology, buteducational psychologists usually have other concerns.They are more interested in increasing the efficiency of learning inschool through the application of psychological knowledge aboutlearning and motivation.In this role, they are most often found as teachers and researchworkers in schools of education.

d) Developmental Psychology

Developmental psychologist study changes in behavior thataccompanies changes in age from conception to death.Since behavior and abilities change most rapidly during the earlyyears, child psychology has traditionally received the most attentionfrom developmental psychologists.But there is a growing interest in behavior changes at the other endof life-old age-and in the periods in between.Developmental psychology has both pure and applied aspects.On the pure side, a great deal of research has been done on thedevelopment of thinking in children.Are systematic changes taking place in the nature of thought as achild grows older?In applied work, developmental psychologists are often concernedwith disturbed children.


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The kinds of deviant behavior found in children are frequently quitedifferent from those found in adults, and different methods are usedto treat them.

e) Experimental Psychology

A large number of psychologist-10percent is engaged in work thathas no direct practical application.They are interested in experimental psychology.This field is concerned with understanding the fundamentalprinciples of behavior.The topics most often dealt with are sensation a nd perception,learning and memory, motivation and emotion and the physiologicalbasis of behavior.In recent years some experimental psychologists have also beenworking with social behavior, personality and behavior disorders.But whatever their particular interests, experimental psychologistsstudy the fundamentals not applications.Although the work of experimental psychologist may appear to havelittle practical application at the time they do it, they are convinceas most scientists are that heir work is useful in the long run.In fact applied problems often cannot be solved without informationpreviously developed by basic science (often called basic research)

f) Industrial Psychology

Industrial and organizational psychology (I/O) is among thenewest fields in psychology.Industrial Psychology focuses on improving, evaluating, andpredicting job performance while Organizational Psychologyfocuses on how organizations impact and interact withindividuals.

In 1910, through the works and experiments of HugoMunsterberg and Walter Dill Scott, Industrial Psychology becamerecognized as a legitimate part of the social science.Organizational Psychology was not officially added until the1970s and since then, the field has flourished.The Society for Industrial Organizational Psychology hasapproximately 3400 professional members and 1900 studentmembers.


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These two numbers combine to make up only about four percentof the members in the American Psychology Association but thenumber has been rising since 1939 when there were only onehundred professional I/O psychologists.Industrial organizational psychologists look at questions

regarding things such as who to hire, how to define and measuresuccessful job performance, how to prepare people to be moresuccessful in their jobs, how to create and change jobs so thatthey are safer and make people happier, and how to structurethe organization to allow people to achieve their potential.

VI. SCHOOLS OR ISMS OF PSYCHOLOGY.

The following are the schools of psychology:1. Functionalism2. Structuralism3. Behaviorism4. Gestalt5. Psychoanalysis

1. Functionalism

Another school of psychology much influenced by the Darwiniantheory was functionalism.


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Two of its most influential proponents were WilliamJames(1842-1910) and John Dewey(1859-1952).James in his textbook The Principles of Psychologypublished in 1890, is a classical statement of the functionalistpoint of view.

Functionalists were interested in the fact that behavior andmental processes are adaptive; that is, they enable one to adjustto a changing environment.

Thus the functionalist tried to study the adaptative functions of behavior and mental life, not merely the structure of the mind.Functionalism formed as a reaction to the structuralism and washeavily influenced by the work of William James and theevolutionary theory of Charles Darwin.Functionalists sought to explain the mental processes in a more

systematic and accurate manner. Rather than focusing on the elements of consciousness,functionalists focused on the purpose of consciousness andbehavior.Functionalism also emphasized individual differences, which hada profound impact on education.Some of the major functionalist thinkers are: William James ,

John Dewey, Harvey Carr ,John Angell

2. Structuralism

Wilhelm Wundt led the school called structuralism.The structuralists believed that by breaking the mind down intoelements called sensations through the experimental method of introspection, they would eventually construct complex mentalexperiences from elementary sensations.E.g: subjects would be asked to describe minutely stimulipresented, like a colored light(red), a tone(cold), an odor(sweet) etc.Besides Wundt, Titchner too has contributed to Structuralism.


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Structuralism can be defined in psychology as the study of theelements of consciousness. Structuralism was the first school of psychology and focused onbreaking down mental processes into the most basic components.In order to reduce a normal conscious experience into basic

elements, structuralism relied on a method called introspection.They further hoped that complex mental experience could besynthesized ands understood form combinations of the elements.While Wundt's work helped to establish psychology as a separatescience and contributed methods to experimental psychology, thestructuralist school of thought did not last long beyond the death of Wundt's student, Edward Titchner due to various limitations.

3. Gestalt School

The school of Gestalt Psychology flowered in Germany around1912 and later progressed to Australia and central Europe .Gestalt psychology was developed by three German psychologistsnamely Max Wertheimer(founder), Koffa and Kohler.All three later migrated to America on account of Nazi tyranny.The German word gestalt literally means form or shape .It psychological interpretation is an organized whole that isperceived as more than the sum of its parts


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E.g.: a house is perceived more than the building material whichwent into it.Similarly the mind and behavior have to be studied as a whole andin relation with the environment.They emphasized the importance of organization in perception and

insight in learning.These psychologists felt that the structuralists were wrong inthinking that the mind is made up of elements as the Gestaltistsbelieved that these elements when organized form a pattern.The method used by them is known as phenomenology where in astimulus with gaps is placed before an individual and he fills up thegaps and sees a complete picture.E.g.: if the stimulus is in the form of dots, the individual sees acircle or a triangle because he has filled in the gaps and sees thecomplete pictureThe Gestaltists maintained that psychological processes likeperceptions reactions etc are gestalts and have to be studied intheir totality and in relation within environment.

Hence they cannot be reduced to the units of the structuralists(i.e.sensations) or those of the behaviorists (i.e. conditioned reflexes)other wise the whole picture is lost.

4. Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis was founded and developed between 1885 and1939 by Sigmund Freud(1856-1939)Freud was a physician and a psychiatrist by profession.Freud soon realized that psychiatry had very little knowledge for thetreatment of patients and whatever existed, did not work.He attempted to understand, not classify his patients and to find aneffective treatment for their troubles.


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His attempts to understand, based on years of observing patients,became a theory of personality; his efforts at treatment led to theevolution of the technique or method of therapy known aspsychoanalysis, based on free association and dream analysis.Freud believed that people were motivated by their inherited

instinctual tendencies which they often has to repress on account of social learning. This led to frustration and conflicts within theindividual due to the distortion of their natural instinctualtendencies.His techniques of free association and dream analysis weredesigned to uncover the repressed conflicts(seething in theunconscious). This the individual was better able to deal with them.At that time a French practioners Chariot and a German practionersBruner were practicing hypnotism as a method which later evolvedinto free association.He published a number of revolutionary techniques and disorders,so that many young medical men were attracted towards Vienna,Austrian to become his students.An association was formed for the development of psychoanalysis in1902 under the leadership of Jung and Adler.

5. Behaviorism

The school of behaviorism was developed out the studies in animalbehavior.J.B Watson(1878-1958) introduced this school in America at theJohn Hopkins University.In 1903 the university of Chicago confirmed its first doctoral degreein psychology to Watson who became the founder of Behaviorism.


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According to this school psychology should be purely objective andan experimental branch of the natural sciences.He rejected structuralism and the introspective method asunscientific and insisted that psychology be restricted to the studyof behavior(the things people and animals do) only.

The methods used were observation, verbal report methods, testingmethods etc.The original version of behaviorism has three main characteristicsnamely:

i. There was an emphasis on conditional reflexes being the buildingblocks or elements of behavior.

ii. There was an emphasis on learned behavior as behaviorism denied theexistence of instinct and inborn tendencies.

iii. There was an emphasis on the study of animal behavior as a means of understanding human behavior

Conclusion

These schools of psychology are mostly gone now as this field hasdeveloped quite rapidly over the last couple of centuries.With the help of technology and many new experiments facilitatedby technology, psychology is expanding into new ideas, thoughts,methods etc.But it is with the help of the foundation stones these schools andtheir founders built, that psychology is where it is today.Hence these schools are still valued and highly respected.

VII AIMS AND GOALS OF PSYCHOLOGY

Psychology has two main goals namely:

i) Understanding Behaviorii) Prediction and Control of Behavior.


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i) Understanding Behavior.Behavior as we all know is the subject matter of psychology.Hence it basically deals with behavior whether it is human oranimal behavior.The promises of psychology is that rational means will give us a

sure guide to understanding human behavior.The extent to which this promises has been fulfilled may not be a100% but it has definitely developed as compared to ourancestors, a 100 years ago.To understand behavior may factors are taken ontoconsideration such as age, time, motivation etc.Such factors help in the easy understanding of human andanimal behavior.As far as understanding of behavior is concerned, psychologysmain aim is to help an individual understand this own behaviorpatterns, his own mindset, his abilities, capacities, strengths etcThis enhances an individuals view point about himself.

ii) Prediction and Control of behavior.

Behavior can only be predicted if it is first understood.Prediction is done through observation.Observation leads to the analysis of the cause and effect.Predictions are made about the people we meet as to whether the

person is useful or harmful.Such predictions help us to know the motives or intentions of thatperson which might be beneficial in the future.Good predictions in crowd behavior help us understand the situationand act accordingly.E.g.: If it is a violent crowd or situation, we find means to escapefrom it or we become self prepared for it.Many times predictions may just lead to discrimination andprejudices.This is where control comes in.

Certain attitudes or cultures, that we cultivate are reduced due tocontrol.Negative attitudes which may be harmful should and have to becontrolled.


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Chapter 1- Psychology as a Science